Xiha Life is a multilingual social networking website. It integrates Google’s automatic translation software, Google Translate, which enables users to instantly translate comments and posts within the site itself. The user interface has been translated into 42 languages, and the system supports communication in 56 languages. Xiha Life has 750,000 members worldwide, with no single country comprising more than 5% of its membership.
Xiha Life was founded on September 28, 2007, by Jani Penttinen, who serves as its CEO. The name, “Xiha”, is Mandarin for “happy” or “joyful”. In 2009, Xiha was named one of the Red Herring 100 Europe, an award given to promising European tech companies.
Its board includes Jaiku co-founder and former Google Project Manager Jyri Engeström, Jan Achenius and Ville Miettinen. Xiha Life is operated out of Sunnyvale, California, Switzerland, and Finland.
^ a b Thompson, Clive, “No Language Barrier: How auto-translation software is saving the world’s mother tongues”, Wired, 18 (7): 42 .
^ a b Koskenlaakso, Leena, The Red Herring awarded XIHA LIFE: Multilingual social networking site continues to grow, Forum Virium Helsinki Newsletter, retrieved July 29, 2010 .
^ a b c Butcher, Jack (January 25, 2010), XIHA Life secures $1m and adds Jaiku’s Engestrom to board, TechCrunch, retrieved July 29, 2010 .
^ Finnish Xiha Life world’s first multilingual online community, Finnfacts, May 18, 2009, archived from the original on August 13, 2009, retrieved July 29, 2010 .
^ Red Herring 100 Europe 2009 – Winners, Red Herring, retrieved July 29, 2010 .
^ a b XIHA Life Receives $1 Million in Seed Funding, Veraventure, January 27, 2010, retrieved August 5, 2010 (Xiha Life press release).
Xiha Life official site
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